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"I'll remain in the same seat by 2027," Sir Keir Starmer remarked, joking that if our discussion was successful, he might welcome the interviewer into Downing Street for another chat next year.

There is never truly break for those in the top job. In the hour before the interview began, the PM had been speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and trying to work out what on earth had occurred in Venezuela, where his close friend, US President Donald Trump, had recently attacked and captured its leader, Nicolás Maduro.

By the time our interview, which was much longer than usual, had concluded, Maduro had been charged in New York.

Renewed Energy for the New Year

As the year starts, Sir Keir appears to have had a degree of a reboot. Maybe even just a little relaxation with the family at Chequers, the prime minister's country retreat.

That certainly appeared to have resulted in a more positive mood than at the sluggish conclusion of 2025, a dreadful year politically for him.

But are he and his supporters deluding themselves if they believe his standing are poised to get better?

Party Concerns

The grisly reality for the PM is that many of his colleagues think he's underperforming at his job. Some of them would sooner take a risk and get him out sooner rather than later.

However Starmer was rejecting the idea during our conversation on Saturday morning.

Repeatedly he stated he'd be "assessed at the poll", insisting no one would strip his term from him – despite the fact that the optimal path of stopping Nigel Farage and Reform UK reaching No 10 may be for Labour to change leader.

"This is the struggle of our generation and I aim to lead us," he said.

The May Elections

The problem for the prime minister is that he will be judged long before then – in a major set of elections in May throughout the UK. He tried to protest, maybe too much, that they are concerning who runs councils, and who runs the governments in Holyrood or Cardiff – and not a verdict on Westminster.

Accurate – up to a point. But although he may be reluctant to concede it, No 10 will be evaluated by those elections too.

This did not stop Sir Keir stating that there were no circumstances under which he would step down, even if one of his MPs challenged him for the job, should those elections be disastrous for Labour.

Predicting a Turnaround

He tried to rationalise his unpopularity by saying the voters was reasonably eager for things to improve. He aimed to convince me, and the public, that 2026 would be a change.

The economy would improve in the face of rising unemployment, he argued, when policies the government put in place during their initial turbulent year began to take effect.

• He pledged to empty asylum hotels ahead of the current deadline of 2029, although he did not put a new date on that.
• He added too, with the proviso that it was not a done deal, that a settlement in Ukraine felt a greater possibility now than at any point since Russia's full-scale invasion.
• He stated for the first time that Western partners were now discussing how to coordinate US and European forces to provide security for Ukraine – to protect a potential peace.

His core point is that soon the country will "turn the corner".

Political Challenges

The prime minister may have communicated with more energy than I've seen from him for a while – less tense, perhaps, with more time to talk.

But despite encountering pressure from within his own party for a more decisive strategy, with greater political direction, more urgency, more speed and more immediacy, his arguments were repeated ones.

When he finds himself in such significant political trouble, is a different approach required a new narrative?

No government, and certainly not one that has been unpopular for an extended period, gets everything its own way.

The Prime Minister's challenges are not just because government is challenging, but because he and his colleagues have made mistakes, even in the last few weeks.

Regrets and Risks

The prime minister expressed regret that he was sorry for saying he was "delighted" to welcome back the Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd El Fattah to the UK after an backlash when past remarks he'd made in the past – such as calls for Zionists and police to be killed – came to light.

Starmer attributed it to "the system" for not realising what the activist had said before – a fancier way of saying it wasn't his responsibility.

And he is facing clear political dangers as the year progresses. His friendship with the US president takes on a new jeopardy after Trump's intervention on Venezuela.

Having interviewed Sir Keir Starmer, a ex- human rights lawyer who was against the war in Iraq, over a long period, the idea he would be content with these events seems unlikely.

International Law and Brexit

He asserted he was a "longtime advocate of international law" but we "just lack the complete details at the moment".

Opponents wanted him to condemn it prior to we spoke. And the administration is likely to face increased demands to give an clear view in Parliament in the next few days.

There has also always been growing tension in the Labour ranks to reverse or renegotiate some of the results of Brexit.

The PM rejects he's heading in that direction, but his new more concrete plan to integrate further with the European trading bloc – the huge economic European market – will probably elicit accusations that he is breaking his promise never to try to reverse the decisions that flowed from Brexit.

A commitment to cosy up to more of the single market will satisfy a faction on his side of the party, but it is easy fodder for Reform and the Conservatives to